There are many things that can contribute to bad breath, formally known as halitosis. The most common contributor is poor oral hygiene. Many people have never learned good oral hygiene techniques. This is a daily habit that should have been adapted at the age of 3! There is no place in our society for those who don't brush your teeth. Once this daily maintenance is out of the way it is then time to consider other alternatives for battling bad breath, to include washes, mints, and sprays.

Millions of individuals suffer with embarrassing bad breath. In spite of this, bad breath can be virtually wiped out with proper understanding and proper dental care! Halitosis usually starts from one of two sources: certain foods we eat or bacteria in our mouths that feed on left over food. There are a lot of bacteria in the mouth and it smells bad. Our mouths are warm and wet therefore a very attractive home for bacteria to grow. There are certain foods that we eat (such as garlic and cabbage), which contain sulfur compounds. When these compounds are released they cause bad breath fairly quickly have the foods have been digested. The sulfur compounds are then taken from the digestive system into the bloodstream and carried to the lungs. Once here they are emitted by the lungs into the air that we exhale, thus giving us halitosis!

A major advancement in the treatment of halitosis was the finding that odor-causing bacteria actually reside on the tongue. As much as 50% of the bacteria located in the mouth can be found here! Think of the tongue as a plush velvet carpet in which bacteria can escape when it sees the toothbrush or dental floss. There are a lot of countries that use an instrument called a tongue scraper to clean the tongue. This device is used to gently clean the tongue to eliminate bacteria. This very simple procedure can greatly improve the smell of your breath by scraping that whitish-yellow coating off your tongue.

People often tackle chronic bad breath using mints, sprays and more often....mouthwash. Recent studies have shown that these alternatives temporarily mask the odor of bad breath. Each of these "breath improvers" work in their own special way, and have both positive and negative aspects. Mints are generally easy to use, discreet, and work about as well as anything... depending on the brand you buy. Sprays typically come in tiny little aerosol cans, and are sprayed directly into the mouth when needed. Using a mouthwash daily can also help fight cavities, gingivitis, tartar buildup on your teeth.

Most mouthwashes, however, contain alcohol which can actually make the situation worse by drying out the mouth, creating a more hospitable environment for odor causing bacteria. A new breed of mouthwashes containing chlorine dioxide are very effective at combating bad breath. These mouthwashes do not mask bad breath odor like conventional mouth washes. Mouth wash is more of a preventative tool than a regular solution for oral hygiene upkeep.

By far the best solution for bad breath (halitosis) is proper and daily dental hygiene. If your not able to brush after every meal then try brushing at least twice a day with a toothpaste that contains fluoride. Brushing using an up-and-down motion instead of a rather than brushing from side-to-side. Also, using an angled toothbrush is preferred as it can be hard to reach those back teeth. Your ultimate goal when brushing and flossing is to (1) remove much of the bacteria in the mouth, (2) remove the layer of plaque, food debris, and dead cells and finally (3) to eliminate the leftover food particles which bacteria use to create odor.